Easter 2011

Here are Lauren and Justin waiting outside of Tristyn's door, in the hopes he will get up early. We were going to make them wait for their Easter baskets until 8:30, when Tristyn gets up. :)


Here are the very happy children in getting ready to have their Easter goodies. :)



Here are the children enjoying the goodies. :)





The girl's got new spring dresses for their American girl dolls!






Little Justin got a few new things too! (Tristyn requested not to be photographed while enjoying his basket.) :)






A couple of cute photos...





Tristyn hid the eggs for the Easter egg hunt. :)




Here is a photo of the Easter basket's my friend Lisa dropped off for us the other day. :) She has always been so very thoughtful and kind to our family. I am blessed to have a friend like her.


Next, I made some really yummy honey glazed dinner rolls with milled flax seed added to the recipe. We had a huge buffet style meal, complete with grilled ham for my husband, veggie chicken nuggets for the rest of us. :) Salad, honey glazed dinner rolls, green beans, baked potatos and fudge for dessert. I was going to make a pumpkin pie, but no one was hungry enough...so perhaps today! ;)

Happy Easter!

When I saw this picture, I just had to post it today. Our family is celebrating at home this year. The children have enjoyed their Easter baskets, I have home made dinner rolls rising on the stove. Our Easter egg hunt was awesome, and it is a beautiful spring day here in good ole Kansas. :) I will post photos of the children sometime tomorrow. Have a blessed and safe Easter day.

Our Week~

Here is Tristyn and his friends being silly in our school room, and working on a project for school, last weekend.
My little Justin painted me an Easter egg. :)


Justin's favorite toast made on fresh baked bread~

Here is Lauren before getting ready for her spring concert at school. (Justin had to be in the photo.) ;)

Here are the girls right before leaving for the concert in their new dresses.

Here is a photo of the three youngest children being kind of silly before church on Sunday. :)

Home made apple cinnamon oatmeal

This morning I made the children some home-made oatmeal. It was easy and even better than the kind we usually have. (which is the instant Quaker)

I made a small serving for my little ones, but you can make as much as you like, just double or triple the recipe.

First, peel and dice an apple into very small bite size chunks. Put in a little frying pan with 1 tablespoon of butter, add brown sugar to make a sauce for the apple to cook in. I did not measure how much I used...sorry. I think it was about 1/4 cup or so. add a tsp of salt also. Let cook on a medium heat, stirring semi often, until apples are soft enough.


Bring a cup and a half of milk to a very hot almost boiling state. Stir to avoid burning the bottom.




Next add 3/4 cup of quick cooking oats. (you can add a bit more for a thicker oatmeal if you prefer.) Stir and cook for about a minute.

When oatmeal has cooked for a minute and you are happy with the thickness add your apple mixture and a bit of maple syrup to your taste. Stir and let sit for a few minutes to thicken and serve with buttered toast and juice. It is really oh so yummy!!!

A dream of mine :)

Being content at home~

I thought I would write a post on how I can be content as a homemaker. I knew many years ago that when I had children I wanted to truly be the one to care for them, to teach them and to help them to grow in areas that would help them to become well rounded people. I have been a stay at home Mommy for 14 years now. There are so many challenges when one chooses to work in the home. Some of which are, people seem to do one of two things...they seem to cut you down for not earning a pay check, or they put you on a pedistool, as if you are some kind of a saint. First let me say that the money I save our family by staying home, and giving our children truly good care, good wholesome meals that are cooked from scratch, and moments shared together, that could be forever lost had I not been here for them...are worth more to me than all the money in this world. Now it is a sacrifice of self to stay home in many respects, however this does not make one a saint of any sorts. How I see it, any choice that one makes comes with both reward and sacrifice...it is all part of life. One of the ways that I have found contenment in what I do, is to follow the advice my wonderful, and loving mother gave to me. She once told me to treat my housework as importantly as I did any job that I was getting paid for and I would reep the rewards. This has been true. We live in a clean and cosy little home that is a haven. It could not feel as nice, if I let the daily house hold chores go by the way side. One thing that has always helped me is to have a home and task organizer. This is just a simple black three ringed note book, in which I keep my lists. Every evening before bed I fill out a task sheet for the next day's work. This helps me to keep track of important events for the day and make sure that my time is budgeted well. I do allow myself to deviate from my lists when need be. I also keep a list of the two weeks going's on and then my special jobs list for each day. I find when I budjet my time, things run so much smoother than if I had not. I also like to keep a list of up comming projects that I need to work on, such as sanding and re-doing my two coffee tables or sewing a case for my mother's little media tablet. Having a place where all of these things are in one spot and neatly typed out, just helps me to feel better as well as function better. I will post a few photos of my simple little notebook. :)

Two Very Good and Family Friendly Movies

I thought I would share a couple of the movies that we have watched in the last month. This first movie is called Miss Potter, and it is about the life of the famous author Beatrix Potter. It is both wholesome and heartwarming. It even inspired my little Megan to write a rather good little book. :)




The next movie I thought I would share is called Finding Neverland. It is about the author of the very famous production of Peter Pan. Incredible movie.

A Few Random Photos of Our Week.

Above is a photo of the Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish Recipe from Taste of Home, and the banana bread. This was the little morning snack I put out for the children after the sleep over. It was easy because I made it all the day before and kept in in the fridge. ;)

Here is a photo of Lauren's teacher's surprise party on Friday afternoon. She is a wonderful teacher, and Lauren feels so blessed to have her. I truly adore all the teacher's at Holy Cross.


Here is a photo of a little nook in my room. I have my favorite scent of Paula Deen Candle burning. I love them better than any other candles I've ever tried, even better than the ones that cost twice as much.


Here is a photo of a large map I found for ten cents, while thrifting. :) I purchased special stickers, so we could map the places our family has been, as well as some different ones for the extra places that Tristyn has been on his travels with his father.





Here is one of my favorite books that I am going to share with Justin this week during our school room time. :)